


somebody to love

by pann_cake



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, ambrollins - Freeform, schmoop then angst then schmoop again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 23:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13646769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pann_cake/pseuds/pann_cake
Summary: Seth found himself looking at Dean again, watching the patterns of the colored lights on his face, not saying anything. It was strange, lately, the way Dean captured his attention. There’d always been some kind of pull that drew Seth to Dean, even way back when they first met. It was even stronger now, after everything they’d been through...Something settled between them, and Seth never thought he’d have this again. Never thought he’d be at a fair, eating corn dogs and playing cheesy games with Dean Ambrose. It was different now though, something deeper and closer than before, but Seth was still terrified of pushing too far, asking for too much. Dean had already given him far more than he deserved. So it didn’t matter that this flame in his chest that belonged only to Dean lit up at the sight of him, danced whenever Dean touched him. Seth would push it down, even though he couldn’t deny it. Dean would always be the sun to him, and poor Seth was just a bug drawn in again and again to get his ass burnt by the flames.





	somebody to love

**Author's Note:**

> Each morning I get up I die a little  
> Can barely stand on my feet  
> Take a look in the mirror and cry  
> Lord what you're doing to me  
> I have spent all my years in believing you  
> But I just can't get no relief, Lord!  
> Somebody, ooh somebody  
> Can anybody find me somebody to love?  
> [[x](https://youtu.be/YVsEpRxrVKU)]

“For the Superstars of the WWE, it’s a road that never ends…” Dean droned in his best tv-announcer voice. 

Seth rolled his eyes from behind the wheel, surprised that Dean had actually watched Ride Along enough to know the voice over. It had been a particularly long drive, and they still had all of that day and tomorrow on the road, and Dean was starting to get antsy. He always did when their destination was more than one night’s drive away, even when they switched on and off who drove. They got as far as they could the night before until stopping at a motel when neither of them could keep their eyes open anymore, and Seth would rather sleep on a shitty bed than drive them off the road and die in a fiery wreck. They were up at dawn, and had been driving all day, meandering somewhere through the midwest. Every time Seth glanced at the GPS on the dash, it just looked like a straight line with no end in sight. 

The monotony was annoying, but not as much as Dean’s restlessness. They’d run out of car snacks, it didn’t look like there’d be a rest stop coming up for a while, and Dean had replaced drumming on the dashboard for torturing Seth. He reached over to stick a finger in his ear, just for the hell of it, and Seth flinched and tried to shove him away.

“Knock it off, I’m driving,” Seth said with a glare, but that didn’t stop Dean who took it upon himself to stick his finger in his mouth and give Seth a wet-willy. “Jesus Christ, how old are you?” Seth demanded dramatically, slapping Dean’s hand away and trying to wipe his wet ear on his shoulder. 

Dean was cackling. “Don’t be such a sourpuss,” he said, and continued to try to irritate Seth by tugging on his bun. 

“ _Stop it_!” Seth yelled, reaching over to grab at the neck of Dean’s t-shirt to try to keep him at arm’s length. They slapped and shoved at each other, Seth’s palm pushing at Dean’s face while Dean’s hands reached for him. As much as Seth huffed about it, there was a tiny smile in the corner of his mouth as they pushed and pulled at each other.

They were locked in a stalemate when the signs started to appear on the side of the road. Hand painted in bright colors, all the shape of arrows, about a mile between each one. 

THIS

WAY

TO

THE

FAIR

Dean’s eyes lit up like he didn’t know it was coming. “A fair!” he exclaimed, letting go of Seth in a rush that set Seth off balance once the shoving stopped. “We gotta go.”

“Are you serious?” He gave him an incredulous look. “We’re making good time, if we stop now--”

“Would it _kill_ you to be spontaneous for _once_ and have a little fun?”

Seth opened his mouth to protest, looked over at Dean’s eager face, and closed it again. 

“Yessss.” Dean pumped his fist in the air, knowing from the look on Seth’s face that he’d won. 

“Okay, for a _little_ ,” Seth conceded. “But we got a lot more driving to do.”

“I will drive through the night if you stop complaining,” Dean offered. “Just get me some Red Bull and I’ll be good.”

Seth sighed, but he had to admit it might be nice to get out and stretch their legs for a bit. He just had to hope they wouldn’t be recognized, because the last thing he wanted was for this to turn into a _thing_. He just wanted to relax, eat some funnel cake, and then get back on the road. It was another mile before they pulled into the parking lot, which was just a big grass field. Judging from the amount of cars, it looked pretty packed. 

“I’ve never been to a fair before,” Dean said, practically skipping to the entrance so they could buy their tickets in. 

“Really? Never?”

“Not like _this_ ,” he said, spreading an arm wide. 

He was right, Seth realized as they walked in. The fair was a huge, sprawling thing, surrounded by wheat fields, in the middle of nowhere. It was almost as if it had popped up out of nowhere just for them. They both paused for a moment and just looked at it, taking in all the sights. Seth looked over at Dean, watching the look on his face. He’s not sure he’s ever seen Dean look so young, so innocent, before. As they walked in, nobody even turned to spare them a glance, and for once Seth felt like they might just fly under the radar and be normal people.

“Where do you wanna start?” Dean asked him excitedly. 

Seth just smiled and shook his head. “Food first, definitely.” 

Dean flashed a grin at him, and off they went. Keeping up with Dean turned out to be quite the feat, but once they started eating all the fair food he slowed down a bit. Seth was just along for the ride, watching the childlike glee of Dean at the fair. But Seth found himself getting caught up in it, he couldn’t help himself. After they hit up a bunch of food stands, they made their way to the midway, and Seth’s eyes lit up at all the games. 

“C’mon,” he said, pulling on Dean’s wrist and bringing him over to the air rifle booth. 

Dean chuckled at him. “Is Seth Rollins actually having fun? After all that fussing?”

“I wasn’t fussing,” he insisted, but the smile on his face kind of took away from whatever threatening tone he was going for. 

Dean slapped a few dollars onto the booth and they both picked up the little rifles as the ear-splitting music of the game started up. Little metal ducks moved back and forth across the booth, and they shot them excitedly until they ended in a tie. 

“Nuh uh, we’re going again,” Dean insisted, and Seth laughed as he fished out more singles. The game started back up again, the two of them both knocking down all of their ducks, threatening another tie until Dean leaned over to Seth and murmured into his ear, “Check out the cans on that chick over there.”

Seth’s last shot went wide, his gut fluttering with sudden nerves that had nothing to do with the aforementioned “cans” that Dean had been pointing out, and everything to do with the tone of Dean’s voice and the feel of his breath in Seth’s ear. His face was burning when the game ended, but Dean was too busy hooting his victory to notice. 

“Here you go, guys,” the vendor said, passing them a giant green stuffed alien. 

“Where the hell are we gonna put that thing?” Seth complained as Dean slung it up on his shoulders, holding onto its legs. It didn’t take long before he got sick of carrying it, and wanted his hands free to get corn dogs, so Dean passed it off to a random kid who thought it was the best thing in the whole world. 

They stood around eating their corn dogs, the bustle of the midway starting to die down. It was dusk, and the lights were starting to come on on all the games and rides. Seth found himself looking at Dean again, watching the patterns of the colored lights on his face, not saying anything. It was strange, lately, the way Dean captured his attention. There’d always been some kind of pull that drew Seth to Dean, even way back when they first met. It was even stronger now, after everything they’d been through--the brotherhood, then the betrayal and hatred, taking turns tearing each other apart. Then the distance and separation, followed by a surprising familiarity but not quite trust, the never ending bickering and trying to prove the other wrong. More recently, there was the earth-shaking thrill of their reunion, of Dean finally letting him in, forgiving him after Seth trying to prove himself week after week. Something settled between them, and Seth never thought he’d have _this_ again. Never thought he’d be at a fair, eating corn dogs and playing cheesy games with Dean Ambrose. It was different now though, something deeper and closer than before, but Seth was still terrified of pushing too far, asking for too much. Dean had already given him far more than he deserved. So it didn’t matter that this flame in his chest that belonged only to Dean lit up at the sight of him, danced whenever Dean touched him. Seth would push it down, even though he couldn’t deny it. Dean would always be the sun to him, and poor Seth was just a bug drawn in again and again to get his ass burnt by the flames. 

“You look like two strapping lads!” a voice hollered at them, jarring Seth out of his reverie, and he blinked in confusion until he saw the guy running the strongman game leering at them. “Think you can do it?” He waggled the hammer at them and gestured up at the top of the tower, the light waiting to go off if someone could hit it hard enough. 

“Whaddya think, Crossfit?” Dean drawled at him, and Seth chuckled. 

“Looks too easy,” he teased, then raised an eyebrow at Dean. “But I bet you can’t get it up.”

Dean cackled at that. “Hold my corn dog.” He shoved it at Seth, who promptly took a big bite of it as Dean went over to grab the hammer. 

Dean took a few practice swings, and Seth just watched as his muscles rippled under his t-shirt, his arms flexing with the weight. Seth let out a breath, trying to clear his head as Dean finally swung the hammer to hit the target. Of course, it went all the way to the top, setting off the light and buzzer in celebration. 

“See that, Rollins?” he boasted, and Seth just chuckled and threw away the empty stick that had once held Dean’s corn dog. Dean didn’t even seem to care, he just collected his prize from the vendor and then rushed back over to Seth. He looked down at the little green bear, giving it a squeeze before passing it to Seth. “Here, you can have him.”

“Aw shucks,” Seth said, taking the bear and sticking it in his hoodie pocket, where it peeked out the side, its smile a crooked black stitch. “I’m gonna call him Little Dean, he has your crooked grin.” 

They turned and started walking again, and Seth thought he imagined it when Dean’s fingers brushed against his for just a moment. Then he looked over at him and saw a slightly nervous expression on Dean’s face, before Dean shoved his hands into his pockets. 

“You owe me a corn dog, jerk,” Dean said, his voice low, the most non-threatening dig Seth had ever heard him fling his way. 

“How can you possibly still be hungry?” he asked. Dean just shrugged, going quiet. Seth didn’t know why, but he felt like something had shifted here, and he wondered what he did to make Dean upset with him. “Dean?” he asked gently, reaching out to touch Dean’s elbow and stop him. Dean cast his eyes over at him and Seth swallowed, not sure how to follow up. Dean was looking at him, a curious look on his face, and Seth had to wonder if Dean saw straight through him, right through to his heart and the secret things that resided there.

“You ready to go?” Dean asked, and Seth let out a breath, his hand sliding away from his arm. 

“Yeah.” They had to get back on the road, it was already getting dark and they’d spent way more time at the fair than Seth had originally planned. But even though they’d be behind in their schedule now and would have to book it through the night to make their show the next day, Seth was okay with that. He wouldn’t trade this day with Dean for anything. 

It was nearly full dark by the time they got to the lot, and a pick-up football game had broken out amid a circle of headlights. They stopped for a little while to watch, each of them supporting the other team, trading jabs as they watched random strangers play touch football. 

“Your QB sucks,” Seth pointed out.

“Yeah well, your running back’s got no hustle, _go go go_!” 

Seth smiled as he watched Dean watch the game, wondering how much of the fair he’d actually missed that day because he was watching Dean instead. It was in that moment that Seth realized how truly doomed he was, how utterly and completely gone he was on Dean Ambrose. 

“Let’s go,” Dean murmured, tugging on Seth’s hand--deliberate this time, not the hesitant brush from before that Seth thought had been a mistake. 

Seth followed him through the maze of cars until they got back to theirs, and Dean leaned back against the door as Seth fished for the keys. Dean had agreed to drive after, and now that it was dark and they’d left the lights and noise of the fair behind, Seth realized how tired he was. 

Finding the keys, Seth stepped forward to hand them over when he stepped in a hole in the grass, his body pitching forward and crashing against Dean’s. Dean grabbed him by his hoodie to steady him, and he was chuckling, making some joke about Seth being a fucking clutz, and Seth could feel the warm vibrations of Dean’s laughter against his own chest and he just _lost his damn mind_. 

He leaned up and dragged his mouth along Dean’s neck, his hands grasping at Dean’s t-shirt, his eyes closed, taking in the scent and taste of him, and Dean felt like _home_. 

Seth noticed a second later, when his mind cleared, that Dean had gone completely still. “ _Seth_ …” he rasped out, and Seth squeezed his eyes shut. 

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. You’re supposed to just think these things, not go and do them you fucking dumbass._

Seth backed up. He tossed Dean the keys and didn’t meet his eyes, going around to the passenger side and just getting in. His hands were shaking, so he shoved them into his hoodie pockets only to find Little Dean the bear in his way. Seth let out a breath and tossed the bear onto the dash, realizing that Dean hadn’t come in the car yet and probably thought he was insane. Seth leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes, his stomach a knot, praying that the ground would just open up and swallow him whole so he wouldn’t have to deal with that look in Dean’s eyes. 

Dean finally entered the car. He put the key in the ignition, but he didn’t start it up yet. Seth didn’t look over at him, but he could feel Dean’s eyes on him. 

“I’m gonna...go to sleep,” Seth said weakly. 

He heard Dean clear his throat, but it was a bit before he replied. “Yeah, yeah, that’s cool. I said I’d drive, so.” 

Then Dean turned the car on and they started to move, and Seth still wanted to just die as he leaned his head against the window, his heart pounding, pretending to go to sleep and knowing he was fooling no one. Dean turned the radio on low, scrolling through static until he found some classic rock station, and they didn’t talk. The road just went on, the car taking them forward as if the universe didn’t care that Seth had left his heart back there in that fair parking lot. 

After a while, Seth felt the car slowing down and pulling off, and he looked up. They were pulling into a rest stop, and he finally sat up and glanced over at Dean. 

“Gotta get a Red Bull,” Dean muttered, not looking at him. “You want a coffee?”

“Um, yeah, sure,” Seth stammered, moving to get his wallet out. 

“I got it,” Dean told him, getting out and slamming the door. 

Seth let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands back through his hair, pulling his bun loose, just wanting something to do with his hands. He slammed his fist against his knee a few times, cursing himself for being such an idiot. He looked up, saw Little Dean staring at him with his stupid crooked smile, slumped over on his side from a turn the car had taken. 

“What’re you lookin’ at?” he grumbled to the bear. He looked through the window and across the dark parking lot, spotting Dean inside the little rest stop store, and his heart ached. It felt inevitable, that he’d fall for Dean, that it would fill up his heart so much that not having him _hurt_. Maybe it was what he deserved, to love him and realize that Dean would never trust him enough to love him back. He’d hurt Dean too much, done too much, even if all of those things had been a facade for what was really in his heart all along. It’d only gotten worse over time, it had been easier to hate him than love him, but after they got over that hate, what was left? Now, actually having Dean back by his side, was so precious to Seth and he probably just ruined it for good. 

Dean came back to the car, and Seth’s eyes followed him as he got back in. Dean passed him a little paper cup of coffee, and Seth put it in the cup holder while Dean cracked open his Red Bull and took a long swig. Dean let out a breath, put the can down, and finally looked over at him. 

“Look,” Dean began, but didn’t get any further. 

“I know, I’m sorry,” Seth said. “I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know why I thought--it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry. Can we just forget it? Can we just, _go back_?”

“ _Seth_ ,” Dean said firmly, reaching out and putting a hand behind Seth’s neck and squeezing gently. “Shut up.” 

Then Dean was leaning in, pressing his mouth against Seth’s, and Seth was so stunned for a moment that he was frozen. Then he melted into him, reached up to frame Dean’s face with both hands, and kissed him back. It was the most intense thing Seth had ever felt in his life. It was like a thunderstorm cooling the fire in his heart, but crackling with something dangerous, something that could destroy him if he let it.

Dean’s hand loosened on his neck, his thumb dipping into the neckline of Seth’s shirt to gently caress. The firm press of his mouth lightened into something more tender, his tongue swiping gently against Seth’s bottom lip, a request for Seth to open up to him. Seth did immediately, and the kiss deepened, their tongues sliding together, slick and needy.

When they pulled back they were both panting, and Seth tipped his forehead against Dean’s and just _breathed_. 

“You drive me crazy,” Seth murmured, and he felt Dean’s slight huff against his lips, still wet and kiss-swollen. 

“You drive me _up a fucking wall_ , Rollins,” Dean said, shaking his head a little. “You could have just, _said something_.”

Seth pulled back just enough to give him an incredulous look. “I thought it was just me.”

“Because you’re a beautiful idiot,” Dean mocked, and Seth laughed a little before Dean was kissing him again. Seth felt himself sigh, felt something _settle_ in his chest and make a home there, awash in the rightness of it all. Dean smiled against his mouth, his fingers tangling in Seth’s hair, and it was everything Seth had ever wanted and never thought he’d get. 

Their noses bumped together as Dean moved back a bit, smirking. 

“Can you stop pretending to be asleep now?” he teased, brushing Seth’s hair back behind his ear. 

“Shut up,” Seth said half-heartedly, his face burning. “I’m an idiot, alright.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed, giving him a small peck on the lips before settling back in the driver’s seat, “but you’re my idiot.”

Seth chuckled and leaned back in his seat, watching Dean move the little green bear so he was upright in the center of the dash and then crank up the radio. Seth rolled his window down as they got back on the highway, the warm night air whipping his hair all around to the sounds of Dean singing along loudly to Queen on the radio. Dean reached over, his smile easy and relaxed in a way that Seth loved, and he laced his fingers with Seth’s as he drove. Whatever tiredness Seth might have felt before was gone in the wake of this happy buzz of adrenaline, grinning over at Dean as the highway beckoned them on, with open hearts and clasped hands sticky from fair food, Freddie Mercury crooning at them to _find somebody to love_. Dean belted out the chorus while Seth sang the backup, idiotic and stupidly happy, and the road stretched on.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I need an excuse for a county fair, bickering, heart-eyes, internal crises, kisses, and Queen? No, no I do not. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
